Videography: slow motion, 7D rent or mount Gopro

[Alex Flowers]

I'm shooting a launch party next week that requires some slow motion. I'm currently using a 5D mark ii, would it be reasonable to mount a gopro 3 on the top and have that shoot at 60fps / 120fps and use the 5D for normal shots, has anyone done this. Or should I look into maybe renting a 7D.

 

(Also does anyone know if there's ever going to be a firmware update for the 5D for 60fps or has that rumour been axed now)

[Phil Rhodes]

My favourite toy for slow mo is the FS700. 60p isn't really terribly slow, and GoPro pictures aren't that nice. I'd rent the 700.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

I really agree with Phil here. the FS can open up quite a few possibilities for you, take all the canon glass you already have (with an adapter) and should provide you with a much nicer overall experience all for the day-rental, give or take of buying a go pro.

[Titus Ebbecke]

If you make a 24fps movie you can only reach 4x slow motion, which is in my opinion acceptable for some steady scenes. But 59,94 fps is only available in 720p (EOS 7D) and that´s a really bad fact. I´d also recommend to rent the FS700. You can film with 240fps and even more (more than 240 will cause bad quality).

Edited June 16, 2013 by Titus Ebbecke

[Titus Ebbecke]

Edit: 2,5x SlowMotion is the maximum

[Bradley Smith]

I've done some nice GoPro slow motion shots and they mix in well if you can get close enough to the subject and also get a shot that hides the GoPro's fish eye lens (i.e. avoid straight lines in the background and center the subject).

 

The black edition will shoot 120 fps in 720p, which is good enough as long as its taken from a different angle as your main camera, and you take some care to match it in post. Also you do need good lighting - it is way too noisy at that frame rate in low lighting.

 

As long as you understand the limitations of the GoPro when composing the shot, it can work.